http://www.suntimes.com/4083298-417/ken-williams-on-the-state-of-the-sox.html

With a payroll around an all-time high $125 million, Williams may not have much to do at the July 31 trade deadline unless the Sox are dumping payroll because of a poor start. Williams said there is no more money to spend.

“Not right now, no,’’ he said. “We need to start off well, we need early fan support and that’s just to get back to even. Unless there are revenue streams I don’t see coming right now. In an effort to put the best club on the field from the beginning, we went beyond the limits.’’

_________________

Gotta do what you gotta do, you know?

By the way, are budget/revenue statements for ball clubs public knowledge?

I much prefer him spending the money on FA acquisitions and having a more complete team from the start than waiting until the trading deadline and overpaying with prospects and money.

Still, this shit about putting the blame on the fans infuriates me.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

+1 to both points. Why would you want to put out a team with money in reserves just in case you are ok, and then spend an extra 30% at the trade deadline to get some more pieces when you could have had them in place from the beginning and benefited from their skills the whole season. It is far better to sell at the deadline when other people are willing to pay big for a guy, and you'll get their prospects and cash and can reduce payroll at that point.

Saying the fans are the reason you can acquire and not acquire players is bullshit. If you aren't getting enough people, just cut payroll to 80 million and see how many fans come out. Publicly bitching about it doesn't do anything to make the situation better. In case they haven't noticed, the economy is not exactly in a stellar situation right now, so people are going to cut back and baseball tickets would fall into that non-essential line on the household budget.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

While I get what you guys are saying, fans obviously generate what can and cannot be put out on the field (in theory). Isn't that ultimately the case for any sport?

Not the WNBA, but pretty much every other sport.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Alright, so in theory Kenny is pretty much dead on. If the White Sox fans want a better product on the field, then they are going to need to come out to the park more often to support that.

What am I missing here?

Shhhhh, don't confuse Sox fans with financial mumbo jumbo...

_________________

Why? We all know it is Sox fans fault the team doesn't have any money to spend right? Basically it is Frank's fault he has not attended enough games?

They passing the plate around at the games this year?

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

I'm no financial genius, but what Kenny says is the truth. If fans wanted to keep Konerko and sign a big-name guy like Adam Dunn, thus causing the team to spend more than originally budgeted, fans are going to need to come out and help pay for this.

It's pretty much always been the understanding, or at least it has always been MY understanding.

It comes across as off putting to demand things of your fans. Basically he is saying that he went overboard on spending, so you better come in and help me pay these contracts off... or else. Money is not a cure all for what is wrong with a baseball team. It helps, sure, but you have to spend the money in the right way, and that's what a GM needs to be focusing on. Not trying to increase revenue streams by blaming the public. Why can't Kenny first look at himself and say, "if I am a GM on a team that has enough fan support for a 120M team, why am I spending 140M?" Fans in general don't care about the money being spent, they care about the product. More wins generally means higher attendance figures and higher revenue coming in. It's not my job to generate the interest in the team, that is the job of Kenny and the team. Make the team interesting to watch, and you'll probably get people to go to the games. GM's shouldn't say, "I'll make the team interesting to watch after you start paying for it."

“We need to start off well, we need early fan support and that’s just to get back to even" is probably better said as "We're completely maxed out on payroll right now. I doubt we'll be making any acquisitions at the break since we've already exceeded our budget for the year." Take the fan out of it -- it's not his/her fault that you've spent more than you wanted to.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Newp,

Good points; I guess I didn't look at it from that point-of-view at first. Well said.

I guess my only argument to that, then, would be that if a team believes certain players will give them the best chance to win (i.e. Konerko and Dunn), then they really were doing what was in the best interest of the team. I never really got the impression that fan-outcry somehow forced the Sox to resign Konerko; sure, he is a fan favorite but we all understand dollars and cents as consumers of baseball.

On the other hand, and correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Dunn basically saying he wouldn't come to the Sox unless Konerko was on the roster? Or was it the other way around?

Regardless, this appears to be more of a "chicken or the egg" argument. If winning is the main revenue-generation factor, then you need top players to win in order to fill the seats. However, if filling the seats is required to have the dough to sign top players, then fans need to understand that.

What would get even more fans out is some ticket discounts. Bring back the 'Buy 1 Get 1 Free' Pepsi Tuesdays, dollar dog Thursdays, even if its just once a month. Maybe have like $5 Upper Reserved seats for weekday afternoon games or something.

I generally go to anywhere between 10-20 games a year. Some tickets I get for free, others I pay for.

_________________

I don't want investors who have seen a several thousand percent increase in their capital over 30 years tell me about their financial troubles. I can appreciate that they want to operate in the black from year to year but the truth is ownership has and does "make" money regardless of attendance.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

True, but that is looking at professional sports as a means to appease investors and not necessarily the fans. This would be incorrect, of course, since fan dollars make up a substantial chunk of whatever money ownership "makes".

First, "blame" is not the right word to use here. Fans aren't being blamed for anything, but the burden is on them to show up just as it is on the players to put together a good 6 months (maybe more) of baseball. Second, I never really understand why this makes anyone angry. It's simple truth that revenue for payroll comes from ticket sales. If tickets aren't sold, there isn't a whole lot of money to spend. In the way team budgets work, this year's team will be supported by revenue generated this year. Or at least, that's the hope.

So, it isn't wrong to say that if people don't show up this season, they're going to be out quite a bit of money. There isn't anything wrong with stating that truth...especially when he's continually asked about it. And that's the other thing people need to remember: He's not just in the middle of a thought and says, "by the way, have I mentioned how much money we've spent this year?" When he's asked the questions by the media, he gives the answers.

The bottom line -- and absolute truth -- is that if fans don't by tickets, the payroll will be a problem because that's where the money comes from. Fans tend to demand the Sox put a lot of money into payroll, and that's fine. But they can't demand it if they won't support it when the team spends. If they're going to demand it, they have to be prepared to support it.

Now, I can understand not going to games in August if the team is terrible. Nobody is obligated to pay money to watch bad baseball. But the early season (April/May) support needs to be huge. Before the season really begins to take shape, the hope is that fans will buy tickets to watch a team that had a pretty good offseason. Fans should really be buying tickets for early in the year based on faith that this could be a good year.

MY GUY! KEMOSABE!

Someone else who loves finding You Tube vids can link up the George Michael or Limp Biscuit version!

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Ranger, who are youn crappin?
It's not the fan's responsibility to go to games. I don't need to go to games early in the year to help with the payroll that I have no control over. Shit man, I go if I get a day off, or if there's a good matchup or if I'm lookin to blow a few bucks but as a fan I have no obligation to actually GO to the damn things at all. And the implication that it is the fans responsibility to foot the bill for a free agent by buying tickets or buying overpriced cokes is fucked up. It causes resentment that it's even brought up.

_________________
"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Ranger, why should I buy seats and therefore tie up a portion of the Sox revenue stream? As a fan, isn't it a better idea for me to just donate money directly to the team? However, I do agree with the fact that this is one sentence spoken by Kenny in what is likely hundreds of them, and he doesn't have the time to wordsmith every single one. That being said, it still is not the best phrasing in my opinion.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

It seems to me that Kenny (and Rongey) have it exactly backward. FIRST, you put out a product people want to see. THEN people will come to see it.

But as Dolphin already pointed out, every investor in the White Sox has already hit a financial homerun, regardless of how many fans the Sox draw.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don